As infants grow into toddlers and slightly older children, they begin to develop the capacity and ability to perform personal hygiene activities on their own. During infancy, the infants are entirely dependent on their parents and other caregivers because they lack the cognitive abilities, physical skills and dexterity required to perform many tasks, including personal hygiene tasks. Eventually, though, the infants/toddlers develop the physical and mental skills necessary to perform these tasks independently.
Initially, the caregivers work with the children to teach and train them on the processes for performing the various personal hygiene activities on their own. During toilet training, for example, a caregiver teaches a child to respond to the sensation of having to use the restroom by using the toilet properly, followed by wiping the genital and/or perianal regions with toilet paper or flushable wipes, and then by cleansing their hands using hand soap, hand wipes and the like. During the training process, the caregiver assists the child in correctly performing the steps of the tasks, thereby re-enforcing the manner in which to correctly perform the steps, and to offer encouragement, further instruction, reassurance that the child is properly performing the tasks, and motivation for the child to develop independence in performing the tasks. Similar interaction applies to all manner of personal hygiene tasks, including dental hygiene, bathing and the like.
Numerous products exist to assist the caregivers and the children in the development of the children's personal hygiene habits. Such products fall into several different categories. For example, training guides and other instruction-oriented materials have been developed. These products include both guides for the caregiver in assisting children in the development of personal hygiene skills, and instructional guides for teaching children when and how to perform the various personal hygiene tasks. For example, U.S. Patent Publication No. 2004/0018474 to D'Ippolito discloses an introductory adult set of instructions providing background information and directions for an adult to apply a step-by-step life experiences and good habits and activities and knowledge learning program for a child. Exercises and activities are performed by the child as instructed by the adult. Each exercise and activity includes an adult guide for when, how, and why to apply them. A book, workbook, e-book, video, sound recording, computer program or any other desired media can be used to assist the parent in training and motivating the child. According to D'Ippolito, steps in the life experiences and good habits and activities and knowledge learning program include discovery, interest, attitude, motivation, vicarious experience, experimentation, practice, and learning and mastery of the life experiences and good habits and activities and knowledge.
Another class of personal hygiene training products includes products providing instruction and re-enforcement to the children at the time they are attempting to perform the personal hygiene tasks. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,037,871 to Babylon discloses a bathroom hygiene training system for teaching proper bathroom hygiene to a child. The bathroom hygiene training system includes a toilet sensing housing including toilet handle and seat sensors, and a toilet sound playback assembly. The bathroom hygiene training system further includes a step stool having a stepstool sound playback assembly and a sensor pad coupled to the platform of the stepstool, and a soap dish sensing housing resting upon the countertop of a sink proximate a washbasin, and including a soap dish sound playback assembly and a soap dish sensor coupled to the soap dish sensing housing. When the sensors of the system are actuated by movement or use of the corresponding portion of the toilet, step stool or soap dish housing, the corresponding playback assembly outputs praise for the task performed and a reminder to perform the next step in the process. For example, upon activation of the handle sensor, the toilet sound playback assembly produces an audible praise for flushing message and a reminder to wash message.
A further class of products includes products providing feedback or additional instruction after a child has performed a personal hygiene task. This category may include products providing varying feedback or messages as a child progresses through various stages of the personal hygiene training process. For example, U.S. Patent Publication No. 2005/0239029 A1, to Yzermans et al. discloses a method of enunciating a prerecorded message related to toilet training in response to a contact by a consumer via, for example, a telephone call or the Internet. In particular embodiments, the method can include providing at least a first prerecorded message related to toilet training; receiving a contact from a consumer; and enunciating the prerecorded message to the consumer. The prerecorded messages can include messages directed to the caregiver, the child, or both. The method can further include providing a toilet training garment that includes a character graphic; and providing at least a first prerecorded message related to toilet training, the prerecorded message enunciated by a voice or image associated with the character graphic. Additionally, the method can include providing a package containing a plurality of toilet training garments, wherein access information is included on the package, within the package, or on each toilet training garment.
As the children develop confidence in their ability to perform their personal hygiene tasks, the children begin to desire autonomy in the performance of the tasks, and the caregivers strive for the children to develop the skills for performing the tasks independently without the necessity of oversight by the caregivers. However, at the point when the children desire autonomy, the performance of the personal hygiene task may not yet be ingrained to the point where the personal hygiene task is performed habitually and correctly each time by the children. Additionally, certain tasks require the use of multiple personal hygiene products and/or facilities, such as toilets, sinks and bathtubs/showers, in the appropriate manner and in the appropriate sequence in order for the task to be performed correctly. In previously known products, while the usage of an individual product may be detected and feedback may be provided based on the detection of that usage, the appropriateness of the detected use of the personal hygiene products and facilities by the child is not evaluated, and the child and the caregiver are not provided with corresponding feedback of the appropriateness of the use by the child. Therefore, a need exists for products and/or product packaging that can determine the appropriateness of the use of personal hygiene products and related facilities, including the sequence of usage of such products and facilities, and for providing appropriate feedback to the children and to the caregivers to monitor and ensure the proper development of the necessary personal hygiene habits by the children as they develop. Such products and/or packaging would enable a child to recognize success in using the personal hygiene products appropriately and in performing personal hygiene tasks correctly based on the feedback received by the child. Moreover, feedback from such products and/or packaging would allow the child to demonstrate to the parent or caregiver their ability to use the products and to perform the tasks instead of relying on the parent or caregiver to observe and confirm that the child is performing the tasks correctly.